How the draw was won

by

Jamaica defender Oniel Fisher (left) deflects a pass off the foot of Mexico forward OrbelÃ­n Pineda. The teams played to a scoreless tie. (AP Photo)

DENVER (AP):

Jamaica were so determined to keep Mexico from scoring they sacrificed their own offence to get the job done.

The game plan worked, and now both teams are in a position to move to the next round if they can take care of business this weekend.

Mexico and Jamaica played to a scoreless draw Thursday night and remained on track to advance to the knockout round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Jamaica and Mexico have four points each in Group C while El Salvador have three points. The top two teams in each of the three groups and the two best third-place teams advance to the quarter-finals.

Neither team could break through on a relatively mild night, although Mexico (1-0-1) dominated chances.

"We didn't perform as we should have. The result wasn't good enough," Mexico assistant coach Luis Pompilio Paez said.

"We were solid on the back end," Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said. "It was a collective effort. We accept the point."

When Hyatt couldn't make a save, his teammates came through.

The best chance to score came on Mexico's fourth corner in the 39th minute when Jesus Molina bounced a header off the turf toward an open net. Jamaican defender Jermaine Taylor deflected it off his head over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.

"We created some chances with the header from Molina in the first half, we had the ball, we had the possession, we just didn't create enough opportunities," Pompilio Paez said. "Jamaica came out with three players on the attack, they attacked with two players in the second half and in the end they attacked with one player."

GOOD CHANCE

Mexico's Erick Torres had a good chance in the 11th minute off a free kick, but the ball went over the goal. Torres again had a chance in the 24th minute.

Jamaica, a 2-0 winner over CuraAao on Sunday, didn't generate much in the first half, but nearly scored on one of their only chances when Cory Burke crossed a ball to the far post. Oniel Fisher couldn't control it before goalkeeper Moises Munoz scooped it up.

It was Jamaica's only real scoring chance of the night.

"Our players were afraid to take risks," Whitmore said. "We mentioned it in the dressing room at half-time that the transition was a bit slow to the attack."

Burke left the game on a stretcher in the 87th minute after a collision near midfield.